1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a machine which will roll out substantially disc-shaped forms of fresh dough. More particularly, the invention is convenient for preparing disc-shaped forms of fresh dough for the preparation of pizza, buns, cakes, and other similar foods.
2. The Prior Art
In order to roll dough into a substantially disc-shaped form, a piece of dough is passed through one pair of rollers, rotated 90.degree. and passed through another pair of rollers. Several machines for rolling dough are known in the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,926 to Victor describes a machine to make disc-shaped forms of fresh dough by rolling the dough between two pairs of parallel rollers, arranged so that one is upstream and the other is downstream on a tilted sliding surface. A device for rotating the dough is located between the two pairs of rollers so that when the dough leaves the first pair of rollers in an ablong shape, the rotation device turns the dough about 90.degree. enabling the dough to be rolled transversely and obtain a form which is substantially disc-shaped. The rotation device consists of a plate, hinged at the base and counterbalanced, which receives the dough after the first rolling and, due to the weight of dough, rotates approximately 90.degree..
The Victor mahine is ineffective because the dough rotates properly only if it follows an intermediate pathway. If the dough is placed on the left side of hopper 4 (close to the rotation pin 8), the plate does not rotate, and if the dough is placed on the right side of the hopper, rotation is insuffcient. Moreover, the counterweights must be adjusted according to the weight of the dough. If the counterweights are not properly adjusted, the rotating plate fails to rotate or rotates insufficiently. The resulting rolled pasta is not uniform or substantially round. In addition, the upper edge of the rotating plate tends to block or clog the movement of the dough and the rotating plate.
Italian Patent Application No. 83639A/77, filed on Oct. 11, 1977 in the name of Bovolenta, discloses a rolling machine substantially similar to the Victor machine but in which the rotation device consists of an "L"-shaped arm externally hinged at the top which receives the elongated dough from the first pair of rollers and turns the dough 90.degree. due to weight unbalancing, and then slides it on to the second pair of rollers. This rotation device has the drawback of not being able to accompany the dough from the first pair of rollers to the second pair which results in frequent irregularities in the final rolled product.
Another known device, decribed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,403,937 to Zamparelli et al ., contains two pairs of rollers arranged at right angles and a rotation device consisting of a small balance which, to a lesser extent determines the rotation of the dough coming from the first pair of rollers, but which has the main function of diverting the trajectory of the dough and conveying it to the second pair of rollers.
This device has the drawback that the proper diversion of the dough's trajectory and its rotation are difficult to control. Furthermore, the fixed pivot and counterweight of the diverting lever arm fix and reduce the field of action so that the dough does not always follow the optimal intermediate path. In addition, the fixed pivot and counterweight limit the dough weight to between 150 and 200 grams. Lastly, a path corrector means is employed that actually proves to be an obstacle to the rotation of the dough.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,636,164 to Bellotto et al. discloses a machine which is subtantially like the device described in the Victor Patent, but the rotation device consists of a small balance with two counterbalanced hinged arms. One hinged arm is fixed to the machine support and the other arm is hinged to the end of the first arm and supports the aforesaid balance. The balance is designed to receive the rollled dough from the first pair of rollers and accompany the dough through a 90.degree. rotation to the second pair of rollers for the final rolling.
Although this device "accompanies" the dough from one pair of rollers to the other, it is not able to accurately control the dough trajectory gradually and constantly, since it uses two counterbalancing arms which are difficult to regulate, set-up, and control. The counterbalancing arms will only function properly if the counterweights are properly adjusted for the precise dough weight to be used. Due to the fact that the dough is not always of an exact constant weight, the device is not reliable. Other solutions are available on the market where the pairs of rollers are not parallel with respect to each other, but are titled at less than 90.degree.. These devices typically use a diverting and rotating device similar to that used in the Bovolenta device described above, but they do not consistently produce an optimum result. Still, other methods of pasta dough rolling utilize very complex machines with either conveyor belt systems to transport the dough or transmission means for rolling the dough. This added complexity causes problems due to sophisticated set-up and repairs without a more uniform product.
From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that what is needed in the art is a machine for rolling dough into a substantially disc-shaped form which accompanies and rotates the dough as it passes from one pair of rollers to another along a fixed trajectory such that the proper rotation is achieved regardless of small or large variations in the weight of the dough.
Additionally, it would be a significant advancement in the art to provide a machine for rolling dough into a substantially disc-shaped form which does not require constant adjustement to compensate for variations in the weight of the dough.
It would be another advancement in the art to provide a machine for rolling dough into a substantially disc-shaped form which is simple to set-up, monitor, and repair while yielding a more uniformly disc-shaped product.
The foregoing, and other features and objects of the present invention are realized in the machine for rolling dough into a substantially disc-shaped form disclosed and claimed herein.